The increased popularity and usage of composite restorative materials in dentistry have generated the need for ever increasing sophistication in the finishing of these materials. Some of these materials, which consist of a hard glassy or mineral filler in a resinous bonding system, were discovered to be harder and more abrasive than many of the abrasive materials traditionally employed by the dental profession. Thus diamond abrasives have become very popular for shaping, finishing and polishing composite restorative materials. Some of the recent advances in this field have been the successful usage of ultra-fine, micron sized diamond instruments.
One problem which had presisted until the present invention was the satisfactory finishing in interproximal locations (abutting tooth surfaces). Composite restorations in interproximal areas frequently resulted in inadequate space to position any instrument for finishing. At times, there was no space at all, as the composite material bridged and bonded from one tooth to the adjacent one, conventional rotary instruments may be effectively used after a sufficient interproximal space is present to contour and finish proximal tooth surfaces, however, they are generally less than satisfactory to create the necessary space initially.
Therefore there was a need for a low cost instrument of this type which could be economically manufactured and assembled and which was efficient on a cost per usage basis to the user.